Post Smoking Ban Meeting at Steve's House Our
first meeting after the Massachusetts smoking ban forced us out of the
place we've been meeting for over 10 years was at the home of long time
member Steve Gutz. Steve's wife Arlene was gracious enough to allow us
all over to fill her house with smoke for which we repaid her with 2 dozen,
freshly scented, beautiful roses. A good crowd showed up, many bringing
their wives or girlfriends. It was a nice change of pace from our usual
meetings and a good way to get to know the guys we've know for so long,
a little better. Even Kenny showed up in his regular peddlar-like fashion.
One surprise guest for many was the appearance of
John Millholland who was visiting from PA. I've never had the pleasure
of meeting John in person only through email so it was finally nice to
be able to put a face to the name. He received a warm reception and it
was evident from those who knew him that he has been truly missed. I'm
sure they will always be an empty seat available if he ever decides to
return home.
There was plenty of food and drink to satisfy the heartiest of appetites
and everything was delicious. But if you've ever been to Steve's house
before then you know that the pièce de résistance is his collection
of pipes and tobaccania and is always the highlight of the visit (for
us pipe smokers anyway). I took a number of pictures of his collection
and tried not to duplicate any of the shots I took last year but pictures
don't do his collection justice, you've got to see it for yourself. And
if they ever decided to ban tobacco completely then Steve's house will
be the hottest spot on the planet (Don't forget who your friends are
Steve).
Now, since this get together also doubled as the August meeting we all
gathered around the screen porch to discuss the clubs future and any new
options that have developed. Steve mentioned the possibility of meeting
at the Old Firehouse Smoke Shop in Fall River and has spoken with Eric
Kahn about meeting at the Temple where the cigar "smoker" was held last
winter. Eric will look into that option and get back to us. We also talked
about the possibilities of meeting at a VFW or American Legion hall but
those options are still being worked out with some hopefulness. The American
Legion seems to be one of the better prospects because it allows a larger
variety of veteran to join and our club has a good handful of veterans
who could join at $20/yr. But until we can secure a new permanent meeting
place we will continue to find ways to meet on a temporary basis and the
September meeting has already been scheduled. Our September's meeting will take place on Sunday, Sept 12th at 1:30pm
at the Tinder
Box in the Mashpee Commons on Cape Cod. After a meeting and a
smoke in the Tinder Box's smoking lounge we will head over to Cyndi's
house, just a short drive away, for a final barbecue of the summer. Many
of the members present at Steve's said they would be attending and we
expect the turnout to be good and spouses and significant others are
welcome and encouraged to attend. It would be helpful if you could
confirm your attendance at the September meeting by emailing
Cyndi. (Click
link above for info and directions.)

Needless to say it was a great meeting, it's too bad you all couldn't
have made it. But if you ever do have the opportunity to visit Steve's
house you definitely won't want to pass it up. See you on the Cape.

Important!This
Just In!!!Sept 02, 2004 - I
just received word from Steve Gutz that he has located a place that seems
very enthusiastic about hosting our meetings on a permanent basis. The
name of the place is the Blackwater Grill and it is located off Exit 1
on 495 in Seabrook, NH. Steve plans to take a ride up there soon to talk
to the manager at which time we will have more information. Sept 3, 2004 -
I just got an email from Steve Gutz regarding the Blackwater
Grill. He visited there today, liked the place and made arrangements to
have the October meeting there. The date is set for Thursday, October
14th and will be very comparable to what we had at the Holiday Inn.
Joe, the owner of the Gold Leaf is excited about it and says he will attend
the meeting along with some of his regular visitors. Obviously this new
opportunity hasn't had a chance to be discussed and voted on but since
we currently don't have a set meeting location it might be a good idea
to check this place out. We can discuss it further at the Tinder Box on
the 12th. Everyone's input is important so please try to make it to
the Sept meeting.
You can also send your initial thoughts about this meeting place by email
to either Steve or Me.

Pipes
& Tobacco News

Veteran smoker Matt soldiers on to Beat Ban (August
8, 2004)
"Matt Damon has devised a cunning plan to get around
the ban on smoking in bars and public places in his home town of
Boston. Kicking his heels and smoking a Marlboro, the Bourne Supremacy
star griped to a fellow smoker outside one of his favourite, now
smoke-free, watering holes. “He said:..." Keep
Reading

Bar welcomes back smokers
(August
17, 2004)
"Anti-smoking activists, of course, would say the Old Oxford
became the first in the state to exploit a loophole in the comprehensive
statewide smoking ban for all bars and restaurants in Massachusetts
that took effect July 5.
"We just got ourselves a lot of enemies," said owner Dawn Bourgeois
yesterday of health officials and jealous competing bars that must
stay smoke-free. "But we knew the ban was gonna kill us dead." Read
the article

Pipe
Restoration - Do it yourself
If you don't want to pay someone else to clean up that old estate
pipe... do it yourself. Here's one method
you can try written by Thomas Wolf and presented by the Seattle
Pipe Club.

Renaissance
Pipe Man
Along with pipes, another passion of mine is to attend and participate
in Renaissance Faires. Just recently I came across a guy named Jeffery
Suter that shares my same passion, so I emailed him and introduced
myself. Not only does he smokes pipes but he also makes them and
appears to be pretty darn good at it. Take a look at some of his
work, I think you'll be impressed as well.

This
Month's Tobacco Raffle

There will be no tobacco raffle this month.

Member Contributions

A Trip to the Gold Leaf in Seabrook, NH...... By Dock J. PerryOn Friday August 27th Dante and myself met at Steve Gutz's house in
Harvard MA and made are way up to the Gold Leaf in Seabrook, NH. The Gold
Leaf is a fantastic little shop with a great selection of tobaccos. I
was delighted to see that they had a whole sleeve of the now discontinued
"Bengal Slices" which WAS the original "Balkan Sobranie Flake",
of course all but the one that Dante bought came home with me. The neat
thing about this store is that they have a lot of blends that you just
can't get anymore. Most of their tins have been "aging" on the shelves
for a while as well. Dante purchased three pipes, the star being a beautifully
sandblasted Bonfiglioli stack as well as several tinned tobaccos. I recommended
Robert Lewis 123 & Tree mixtures as I've been enjoying these both as of
late. Steve Gutz purchased some tinned blends and talked me into a couple
of tins of Erinmore Flake to cellar. From the shop we went to the antique
store next door and then to lunch at the oriental restaurant beside the
Gold Leaf. A great day was had by all.

Cookie Cutter Stereotypes Do Not Fit Pipe Smokers! .......Sucked
from the thumb of Art Faye...aka Sid Shear "Lumping pipe smokers together with those who fire up cigars
or cigarettes ins not fair. Cigarettes, because they are made of homogenized
tobacco/paper burn at a 400 degree temperature. Cigars and pipes burn
at a lower temperature often leading to the question: "Are you smoking
tobacco or matches?" In the social class levels of high brow, low
brow and no brow, pipe smokers do not parade personal pretensions to bring
their appearance closer to royalty. Pipe Smokers would rather be compared
or mistake for the brain-power level. "Have you ever seen a published
picture of a terrorist smoking a pipe? A likely answer would be "Never!"
I hope that disclosing this observation will not lead to terrorists taking
up pipe smoking as a disguise. It is still true that you can always trust
a man/person who smokes a pipe!

I'm always looking
for new items for this Newsletter. If you have an interesting article,
or would like to share
your knowledge on a particular pipes and tobacco related subject, please
send it along (preferably by e-mail).